


Bertie Wooster Alone in the World

by VTsuion



Series: The Mysterious Mr. Jeeves [1]
Category: Jeeves & Wooster, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse
Genre: Backstory, Developing Relationship, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VTsuion/pseuds/VTsuion
Summary: A chap can't be happy all the time. Bertie Wooster is feeling rather adrift and turns to Jeeves for a little company, and finds a bit more sympathy than expected - and learns a little about Jeeves along the way.
Relationships: Reginald Jeeves & Bertram "Bertie" Wooster, Reginald Jeeves/Bertram "Bertie" Wooster
Series: The Mysterious Mr. Jeeves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860103
Comments: 10
Kudos: 74





	Bertie Wooster Alone in the World

I’m generally not what you’d call a moody chap. Everyone has their ups and downs, of course, but generally I don’t let that get me down and on the whole I live a charmed life. But I suppose a fellow can’t be cheery all the time.

I was reclining about in one of those maudlin moods you read about - if maudlin’s the word I mean - feeling rather alone in the world, abandoned. As though I had been plunked into life without a second thought and left to languish.

I was up to my eyes in it when Jeeves shimmered through and I found I was rather disinclined to see the chap go, though this was still early in our acquaintance when neither of us knew the other well. I found I wanted to get to know him, to learn more about this remarkable cove who had by mere happenstance shimmered into my carefree life - though at that particular moment, I was feeling anything but.

“Do you have any family, Jeeves?” I asked abruptly. “Not cousins or aunts or uncles, I mean; your own flesh and blood. You give the impression of being a bit of a singularity, as though you sprung into being fully formed, what?”

Jeeves stopped and regarded me a little. I have mentioned in my other writings that Jeeves is capable of expressing great sympathy at times, which is a very valuable talent in a valet and is another piece of evidence of Jeeves’s supreme proficiency, but it may require a little further clarification. While I would not accuse Jeeves of fabricating expressions of sympathy as he deems necessary, such sympathy is not entirely in the chap’s nature.

So, when met with a much deteriorated Bertram Wooster, he simply answered my question; “No, to my knowledge, I did not.”

That is all not to say that I was unappreciative. On the contrary, I was greatly encouraged by the response and may have even sat up a little taller in my chair. It may not seem like much, but it was a gravely needed friendly distraction and a rather unexpected one. Typically, my rambling moods are met by a dismissive, “Be quiet, Bertie,” - the precise address varying by the speaker - but Jeeves, though I am sometimes convinced he watches the whole world with disinterested bemusement, listens to me as much as he listens to anyone, and at times I am bold enough to fancy rather more so, though I couldn’t possibly fathom why.

And so, I eagerly replied, “Then you do have a pair of progenitors all your own to visit on your days off and regale with tales of your successes? Any sibs, like brother Mycroft? Though I can only imagine you must be the oldest and wisest of the lot.”

“Not exactly, sir.”

“Well, I’ll be! There’s one better? I’d have thought it impossible!”

“That’s very kind, sir, but I mean to say that I have neither siblings nor parents.”

“Oh.”

I had always assumed that Jeeves was an isolated phenomenon, his intelligence too great to have any equal and I could hardly imagine him chatting it up at the old homestead, but as the happy little family I had envisioned came crashing down ‘round my ears, I felt a little dampness in my eyes and a pang of sympathy. But we Woosters are not to be kept down.

“We just have to stick together then, eh Jeeves!” I declared.

“Sir?”

“You and me; me and you. If we don’t have anyone else, at least we’ll have each other.”

He paused and looked at me as though he was taking the unexpected suggestion under consideration. “Very good, sir,” he said at last.

I nodded in agreement. I had half an impulse to get up and wring his hand, but instead I settled back into the chair, finally able to get comfortable. “You know what’d be just the thing?”

“Yes, sir.”

And before I had a chance to clarify, a glass of just the stuff was in hand.

“You’re beyond belief, Jeeves.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He rippled around the room like a silent stream for just a little longer, before vanishing back into his lair, never too far away.


End file.
